Nevada delegates get prime seats at Democratic convention

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Nevada has one of the best delegate seating spots at the Democratic National Convention, a center-stadium place inside the Time Warner Cable Arena, attesting to its status as a battleground state President Barack Obama needs to win the White House.

Nevada is sitting behind North Carolina and in front of Iowa. All three states are up for grabs and GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney has them all on his must-win list just as Obama does.

Only four other states won floor spots in front of the stage, where convention speakers will address up to 20,000 people tonight and Wednesday night. Vice President Joe Biden's home state of Delaware is nearest the stage on the left, in front of Illinois, Obama's home state.

Behind Illinois are Colorado and Virginia, two other battlegrounds.

The other delegations are seated up in the arena and not directly on the floor.

Roberta Lange, chairwoman of the Nevada Democratic Party, was excited about the prime seating.

"It energizes you. It energizes Democrats" at home, she said.

At a Monday morning breakfast with the Nevada delegation, Lange won cheers when she announced the seating arrangement, but she also warned folks to get used to having television cameras in their faces.

"So we have TV cameras all around you," she said. "They're going to be all around you."

That's one reason why Nevada Republicans didn't get a prime seating spot in Tampa, Fla., last week at the Republican National Convention. The GOP didn't want the cameras to capture Ron Paul supporters trying to nominate the Texas congressman from the floor. Most Nevada delegates backed Paul over Romney, and they wound up almost at the back of the convention hall.

Contact reporter Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.
Follow her on Twitter @lmyerslvrj.